مجله مطالعات اجتماعی ایران
سال دوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 4، زمستان 1387)

Cities and urban systems have been and will remain central to the economicdevelopment of most countries. A rapidly increasing share of the world's populationis living in cities. In the next 15 years the population of many cities in Asia andAfrica will nearly double. In order to confront the challenges posed by thisunprecedented rate of urban growth which is accompanied by an increasing urbanpoverty, cities need to provide solid and urgent planning now in order to make moreinformed choices about the future. City development strategy (CDS) supports citiesin this critical decision making process and is focused on implementation. It is anaction-plan for equitable growth in cities and their surrounding regions, developedand sustained through participation, to improve the quality of life for all citizens.The essential goals of CDS are: Assess the state of the city and its region; Develop along-term vision; Act now with focus on results; Value the contributions of the poor;Encourage local business growth; Engage networks of cities; Focus onimplementation; Concentrate on priorities; and Foster local leadership. The Alliancesupports cities in preparing city development strategies that link their economicgrowth and poverty reduction objectives, which often includes citywide slumupgrading strategies. In this paper we will try to show the CDS process with focuson the city of Kerman.

The bulk of research on deviant behavior has mainly been concerned with therelationship between social class and antisocial behavior, thus neglecting theinteracting role of social class and characteristics of residential area on people’spsychological dispositions as the root cause of many instances of deviant behavior.This article, therefore, attempts to explain the interaction between social class andsocial area characteristics on the people’s psychological dispositions seen asnegative emotions. These emotions are understood as contributing to thedevelopment of instances of antisocial behavior in settings such as social isolation,alienation, powerlessness, hopelessness, and the like. Our specific approach in thisstudy is the social space distribution in the city as the explanatory factor ofpsychological dispositions or negative emotions in lieu of other social structuralparameter and relations. This is a survey-method research and its main datagathering instrument is the questionnaire. The findings show that the role of socialclass and the residential area, each in its own way and in interaction with each other,on creation of negative emotions is undeniable, that and the study of these factors isa promising area which can further help in the explanation of deviant behaviors.

The present paper focuses on the study of the network social capital in Tehran’s tenneighborhoods, located in districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. In this paper, social capital isconsidered from a social network approach, also known as network social capital.The study is based on 318 face-to-face interviews with men and women who wereselected randomly from five districts in Tehran. The results indicate that thenetworks are composed of ties with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers,where about half of the relations are with family members. Although individuals areknown to be fairly familiar with notable figures of their neighbors, they have notseen as depending on their local ties. Moreover, here, voluntary activities of therespondents at the local level have been taken into consideration.The final section of this paper, in addition to discussing the importance of payingattention to neighborhoods and districts for their beneficial functions, placesemphasis on the point that concentrating on neighborhoods and local relationshipsseparately is highly likely to fail. Only with the creation of more opportunities forthe formation of personal networks and the facilitation of communication betweenindividuals, it would be possible to benefit from all the potentials of a modern city.

One of the consequences of rapid growth of urbanization in developing countries, asa way of passing though modernity, has been the appearance of intercity slums,called here ‘poverty Islands’. In this paper we have developed a qualitative andethnographic survey of one of these little slums: Mehran quarter situated in the 4thdistrict of Tehran which is nearly 25 years old. Mehran is physically divided by ahighway and partly destroyed, but still has a population of about 40 familiesoriginating from different Iranian ethnic groups: Azeris, Lurs, and Kurds. Theethnographical survey demonstrates that shaping and evolution of space have takenplace under the influence of ethnic characteristics. In addition, this article tries toshow the importance of an anthropological and ethnicity-oriented approach in helpthe urban policy makers in this case and other urban areas which are likely tobecome slums. In other words, studies like the present one aim to develop for urbanpolicy makers, more coherent and humane ways for finding sound solutions forthese kinds of populations, particularly in the Iranian metropolitan centers.

Following evolution of socio-spatial structure of great cities, there have been appliedefforts to develop macro plans for urban development concentrating on reformingthe internal fabric of these cities and increasing their institutional capabilities. Aglance over the nature of urban development plans reveals that their main focus hasbeen the improvement of urban structure and application of methods that wouldresult in enhancement of overall quality of life in the developed sections urbansetting at the expense of neglecting small-scale urban issues, activities andinstitutions in less developed sections. For this reason many urban networksparticularly those located in marginal areas could not use the benefits of macrourban plans. An increasing trend in the immigrants population, on the one hand, andthe rapid growth of other sections, such as in service and housing, have resulted inan intensification of socio-spatial imbalance in which the populations of marginalneighborhood have been at loss. A number of facts are demonstrative of this point,as far as problems such as unequal socio-spatial structure, poor services, anddistribution system are concerned. These underdeveloped cities are mostly located inthird world countries that are sadly experiencing these problems. Moreover, suchproblems are the origin of many other urban maladies, on the level of city, such associal inequality, urban crimes, delinquency, social abnormalities, and urban povertyand so on.In recent years the attention is shifted toward micro scale of analysis and planningprocess. Urban neighborhood as a unit of analysis and management became thefocus of many research works. Particularly there has appeared an attention toregeneration poor urban neighborhood as the foundation of development of generalstructure of city. Urban neighborhood regeneration based on of communitydevelopment planning framework is a way in which planners could attempt torebuild the internal structure of poor neighborhoods, change the quality of people,and increase the possibilities of making services and provisions affordable. After thefailure of the use of the macro level of analysis it seems necessary to apply a newapproach in the analysis and production of a sustainable policy for future of urbandevelopment which can be concentrated on neighborhood-based and citizen-orientedrather than concentrating on an overall system-improvement. This article argues thatthe Community Development Planning can be conceptualized as a new approachand it means to reconstruction of poor areas in developing cities. However, in thispaper the main aim is to develop the sociological aspect of community developmentplanning approach and to direct attention towards its results for the city life andurban regeneration in general.

Urbanization as a consequence of modernity, while bringing welfare and facilities,has resulted in increased risks of life for human beings. Giddens and Beck are twosociologists who see the modern society as a risk society and have studied risk andits impact on social relations. One important part of risk studies is risk perception. Ithas psychological, sociological and economical approaches. The risk perceptionstudies can be utilized in policy making and planning, aiming at risk reduction.There are not ample evidences on social studies of urban risks in Iran. The currentstudies show that the Iranian citizens have a modern perception on manmade risksbut for economical and living problems the attention to risk reduction methods is notincluded in their priorities. Although the people have a strong tendency for trainingon risk reduction methods, but for structural and personal problems, the responsibleorganizations are not sufficiently prepared.

Social security, along with the individual security, is the fundamental human needwhich has been very significant since the emergence of social life (Maslow andHertzberg theory). Increasing attention is being paid to the issue of social security inmetropolitan areas such as the city of Tehran. Such concerns are due to theunreasonable expansion of the city and undisciplined increase in the number of itsdistricts. Acknowledging that the use of the improved facilities and instruments canto some extent be beneficial in preventing crime and delinquency, this article tries toshed more light on the role of people’s collaboration for establishing local securitythrough NGOs.The significance of local, non governmental organizations lies in the fact that settingup NGOs, provides the suitable base for social security and stimulate peopleespecially the young to voluntarily participate in decision making and goal settingfor local affairs at different levels and branches. A survey conducted in two districtsof Tehran (Amirieh and Shahrake Jandarmeri) concluded that low level security,both financial or life security, on the one hand and lack of safe condition for childrenunder 10 years old, on the other, caused a great deal of anxiety and concern forfamilies in Tehran. Furthermore, many people expressed their readiness to take partin local security organization which did not show significant difference between,married or unmarried people, women or men.Generally people’s collaboration can result in more economic and more effectiveways of security. Finally, a model was designed for the role of these NGOs and theirresponsibilities.

One of the main policies of Islamic Republic of Iran, within the framework of organizing the metropolitan populations in Iran, has been the formation and expansion of new towns. The most important indicator for locating of new towns consists of physical, biological indicator, and local resources. This study aims, through the use of urban and rural ecological potential model, to examine natural ability of places considered for formation of three new towns (Hashtgerd, Parand and Andisheh). Studies indicate that Hashtgerd has the best circumstances and can be developed, while other towns; Parand and Andisheh, are sequentially placed on second and third position. Thus, empirical studies were carried out in this field which resulted in findings that point to suggestions which are offered.